The Boy Who Reached for the Stars
eBook - ePub

The Boy Who Reached for the Stars

A Memoir

  1. 368 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Boy Who Reached for the Stars

A Memoir

About this book

“Inspiring and joyous.”—People

"Heartwarming . . . infectious . . . Morillo's The Boy Who Reached for the Stars is every bit the inspiration he means it to be."Kirkus Reviews

The engineer known as the “space mechanic” speaks to both our future and past in this breathless memoir of his journey from Ecuador to NASA and beyond.

Elio Morillo’s life is abruptly spun out of orbit when economic collapse and personal circumstances compel his mother to flee Ecuador for the United States in search of a better future for her son. His itinerant childhood sets into motion a migration that will ultimately carry Elio to the farthest expanse of human endeavor: space.

Overcoming a history of systemic adversity and inequality in public education, Elio forged ahead on a journey as indebted to his galactic dreams as to a loving mother whose sacrifices safeguarded the ground beneath his feet. Today, Elio is helping drive human expansion into the solar system and promote the future of human innovation—from AI and robotics to space infrastructure and equitable access.

The Boy Who Reached the Stars is both a cosmic and intimate memoir spun from a constellation of memories, reflections, and intrepid curiosity, as thoroughly luminous as the stars above.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Boy Who Reached for the Stars by Elio Morillo in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Social Science Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. Introduction
  6. Chapter 1: Launchpad: From Ecuador to the Unknown
  7. Chapter 2: Landing Site Selection: New York
  8. Chapter 3: Pad Reconstruction: Puerto Rico and the Kindness of Strangers
  9. Chapter 4: Ground Support: Adverse Weather Conditions
  10. Chapter 5: Load and Go: The Academic Dynamics That Shaped My Dreams
  11. Chapter 6: Defying Initial Conditions: Built to Be Tougher than Expected
  12. Chapter 7: Launch Vehicle Rollout: Developing an Empire State of Mind
  13. Chapter 8: Final Countdown: Education, the Silver Bullet to Poverty
  14. Chapter 9: Liftoff: Skyrocketing to My Dreams
  15. Chapter 10: Mission Control Center: The Data That Helped Shape My Identity
  16. Chapter 11: Max Pressure: Inching Closer to Real-World Results
  17. Chapter 12: Cruise Phase: Mastering Engineering While Monitoring a Family Reality
  18. Chapter 13: Trajectory Correction: Preparing to Reach for the Stars
  19. Chapter 14: Entry, Descent, and Landing: The Rover, the Helicopter, and Me
  20. Chapter 15: Surface Operations: Searching for Joy
  21. Epilogue: Beaming Toward a Compassionate Future
  22. Acknowledgments
  23. References
  24. About the Author
  25. Copyright
  26. About the Publisher